Hull FC 48 Salford City Reds 26

And so we very quickly revert to type. The re-arranged game had not been visited with the same optimism as might have been if the original game had taken place 4 weeks earlier when we were still in the grip of a post-Harrison mini-revival. We'd had a couple of poor performances since then to bring us crashing back earthwards & Hull had started to show signs of re-discovering last season's form so the long journey east was made in far greater hope than expectation. The club had announced another new signing in the week with the capture of Cronulla Sharks forward Philip Leuluai (younger brother of Hull legend James & uncle of Leeds' Kylie and Wigan's Thomas) but his arrival in the UK would be a few days away so the lineup was to be the same as last weeks huge win.

The previous weekend had been rounded off nicely by Warrington doing us a favour and putting 60 on Hull KR on their own patch and the confidence factor of getting out of the mire was rising by the day. What we all wanted to see was a good performance to give us a heart for the visit of Hull KR the following Friday.

A lateish train was boarded at Piccadilly so a few of us opted for some cans on the 2 hour journey to Hull which was livened by banter about the various events in the News of the Screws. On arrival we made the short walk to the Admiral of the Humber for a couple before collaring some taxis to take us up to the pubs by the ground. Against the odds for this July it was a nice sunny day so we took our beers out onto the streets & prepared for the 80 minutes ahead. A quick beer on the concourse & then time to get behind the lads for the return to the KC of not only McRae but Saxton and Barnett.

The game started quite well for us with us managing to force an early drop-out & put some pressure on the hosts, it was to be a false dawn. Just 5 minutes in Horne fed the excellent Manu for the opening try & almost immediately the scorer made another break before feeding the youngster Hall who threw away the opportunity with the line begging. It would be a temporary reprieve as Tommy Lee broke & this time it was Horne who was on hand to finish the move before Hall broke feeding Graeme Horne whose smart pass put Manu in. Then some weak tackling failed to stop Manu before Lee kicked through for Hall to score. Another Richard Horne effort after good work by Tickle left us 26-0 down after just 25 minutes.

To our credit though, we didn't give up and with the only cheers coming from the Salford end having been those that greeted Catalans' tries against Wigan in the cup semi-final, the 1st half ended far more positively with Wilshere and Moule crossing. Early on in the 2nd half, Moule grounded Robbo's kick & we were back within 10 points at 26-16. That would be as good as it got as tries by Sing, Radford & Hall eased Hull back to a position of safety. We still showed some resistance though as Luke Dorn scored a try that was worth the admission fee alone before Finnigan was put under the sticks to reduce the arrears further. Fittingly though the impressive Hull outfit had the final word as Whiting went over at the death. All that remained then was to watch the final minutes of Catalans; stunning win on the TVs in the concourse.

With most people choosing to head home straight after the game, Paul & I headed back to The Eagle where we'd enjoyed a good laugh with a few of the locals after last year's game. Most were quite complimentary to the Reds of course with them being desperate for us to get rid of their cross-city neighbours and their kind words were of-course well received. The jukebox in the boozer was quality so we put a few quid in to enjoy some choonage before heading back on the 9pm train to Leeds where a short wait provided me with a train back home.